The Five People You Meet In Heaven
by Crystal-Ice2
Summary: MAJOR HBP SPOILERS! Follow the journey of spoiler through the heavens, where he meets five people, each who had an important impact on his life. Full summary inside so I don't ruin HBP for someone. Please R&R!
1. The End

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters. They belong to J.K. Rowling. The plot of the book is based by The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom.

**WARNING! HALF-BLOOD PRINCE SPOILERS!**

**Summary- As Dumbledore's leaves life on earth, he embarks on a journey through the heavens. During his journey, he meets five people that explain what his life meant. Find out why Severus was trusted for so long, Dumbledore's worst fear, and what he really sees when he looks into the Mirror of Erised.**

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter One- The End

For those of you familar with Albus Dumbledore's death, you know he was killed by Severus Snape. However, you don't know why. Is Severus truly one of the Death Eaters, doing Voldermort's bidding by killing the only one that he ever feared? Or is Severus loyal to Dumbledore, but just killed him to remain a helpful spy to the Order of the Phoenix?

If Dumbledore was to live, Snape would have had to die. His cover would have been blown, for he is, in fact, on Dumbledore's side. You will find later in this story Dumbledore's exact reasons for trusting Severus.

As Snape shouted the words 'Avada Kedavra' he was doing Dumbledore's and Voldermort's bidding. Dumbledore pleaded for Snape to kill him, not for Snape to spare him. Voldermort wanted Dumbledore out of the way. He couldn't afford him passing any more information to Harry Potter, the person that could lead to his demise.

For Dumbledore, it was only appropriate for his last breaths to be taken on the grounds of Hogwarts. If he had had the choice of where he was to end his life, Hogwarts would have definitely been it. The castle had been his home away from home, much like it was to many others.

As a shot of green light emitted from Snape's wand, Dumbledore thought he would feel pain or agony. He felt neither. His body crumpling most likely looked like he was in tremendous peril. However, Dumbledore felt nothing. His body just died, stopped working, but his soul sprang to life, sprang up towards the heavens.

**A/N-If any of you are familiar with Mitch Albom's book, then you know that the chapters are very short and that he included many flashbacks. My story is going to closely follow this set-up.** **I have the story planned out. There will be thirty-five chapters. Anyway, thanks for reading. Please review.**


	2. This is Dumbledore's Memory

Disclaimer- J.K. Rowling owns the Harry Potter characters. The Five People You Meet In Heaven is owned by Mitch Albom. The plot and chapter titles are also from him.

**A/N: The _italics_ means that it is a flashback. In case you hadn't noticed, this whole chapter is a flashback.**

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter Two- This is Dumbledore's Memory

_Albus is a young boy of the ripe age of ten. He has short auburn hair, exactly like the woman's standing next to him. That woman is his mother._

_Albus stands patiently by his mother's side in the small entrance way of their home. His father is opening the door for tonight's dinner guest. _

_The woman stepping through the door has a long traveling shawl wrapped numerous times around her bony shoulders._ _She has small beady eyes and short black hair. _

"_Albus," his father says, motioning for his son to come forward. "This is Elise Erolds. She works at the ministry."_

"_Pleased to meet you," Albus says politely, lowering his head towards Elise._

"_Shall we head to the dining room?" Albus's mother suggests._

_Albus closely follows the three adults as they head towards the spacious dining room. Albus's parents sit at the two heads of the table, and Albus sits opposite Elise._

_Soon after they sit down, a tiny house elf brings out a large, silver serving tray. On the tray are four plates, each holding a hearty serving of roast beef, carrots, mashed potatoes, and cabbage. The house elf distributes each plate to the party of four. _

"_This looks lovely!" Elise says enthusiastically, as a plate is set in front of her._

_Albus is growing a little bored as the adults discuss current events happening in the wizarding world. As soon as he scrapes his plate clean, the house elf collects it, along with the other three plates._

"_That was delicious!" Elise exclaims, daintily wiping her mouth with her napkin. Though she is talking to Albus's parents, her eyes are resting on Albus. _

_At that moment, there is a loud crash from the kitchen. It is most likely from the desert trays that the house elf would have been carrying between his two small hands._

"_I better go check on this." Albus's father says as he stands up from the table. _

_Albus's mother nods, also getting out of her seat. "Why don't you two have a small chat as we sort this mess out?"_

_Albus nods as both of his parents leave the dining room. He isn't sure what to say to the strange woman across from him, but he never had to start. Elise does._

"_Will you be starting Hogwarts soon?" she say politely, peering at Albus._

"_Yes ma'am." Albus says. He will be at the magical school in a year's time._

"_There's no need to be calling me ma'am. It makes me feel old. Call me Elise." Elise answers, in a similar fashion to how Albus's grandmother speaks to him._

_Albus decides_ _to ask Elise about her work. Even though it is a very boring topic for him. It could keep an adult talking for hours. "What exactly do you do for the ministry?"_

_Elise purses her lips, and folds her hands in front of her, as if she was about to say something extremely important. "I do many odd jobs. Whenever somebody needs something done they call on me. However, my main job is in the Department of Mysteries. It would be unwise to tell you much about that, but I can show you one thing."_

_Elise begins writing something on her napkin. She has large loopy handwriting. When she finishes writing, Albus takes a peek. She has written her name. As Albus watches her with curiosity, she circles the last two letters of her first name and the first two letters of her last name. She slides the napkin towards Albus._

_Albus isn't quite sure what the point of this is. He doesn't even have a chance to look at the napkin, for Elise's eyes go abruptly out of focus. She grips the edge of the table, her rings digging into her fingers at odd angles. She speaks her sentences in short spurts._

"_BEWARE–OF THE–HANDSOME–DARK-HAIRED MAN. HE WILL–ATTEMPT–TO STEAL–THE SWORD–OF YOUR–MOST FAMOUS–ANCESTOR. HE MUST–NOT–SUCCEED."_

_Elise lets out a small cough, and her eyes refocus to look at Albus. "Why are you so pale dear?"_

_Albus is unable to find an answer. Before he could speak a word, his mother and father enter the room._

"_That's all taken care of," Albus's father says happily. "Just a little accident."_

_At that moment, the old grandfather clock strikes eleven._

"_Oh dear, it's late." Elise says. "I better get going."_

_Elise stands up and heads towards the door, Albus's parents following closely behind her. Even though Albus is still terrified, he politely follows the three adults into the entrance way. The Dumbledores bid their good-nights to their dinner guest, and Elise heads out the door._

"_Bedtime Albus," his mother says kindly, giving him a hug as his father ruffles his hair._

"_Yes mother," Albus answers as he heads up the stairs. "Wait, I forgot something."_

_Albus rushes past his confused parents and heads back into the dining room. He grabs the napkin that Elise had written on. _

"_Good-night." Albus says, rushing past his parents for the second time. Once he is safely in his bedroom with the door closed, Albus takes a look at the napkin._

_Elise Erolds is written on the napkin, but that is not what Albus is looking at. He reads the four circled letters aloud. "S-E-E-R. What's a seer?" Albus wonders thoughtfully._

_Albus is still confused about Elise's mysterious trance. Did it have something to do with 'seer' or the Department of Mysteries. Also, what was the message about? Not wanting to forget what Elise said, Albus carefully wrote down her words on the napkin._

_As Albus's head hits his pillow, his head is full of thoughts about what a seer was. However, he should have been focused on Elise's prediction. Preventing the sword from being stolen was a matter of life or death for a certain Harry Potter._

**A/N: In case you were wondering why I did flashbacks is because that is how Mitch Albom's novel is. There will be lots of these, each important to the ending of the story. Don't worry, it will all come together. Anyways, thanks for reading, and please review.**

**Also, to answer vaderfan220x's question, the lessons Dumbledore will be taught will be completely different from what Eddie was taught.**


	3. The Journey

Disclaimer- J.K. Rowling owns all of the Harry Potter characters. The concept of this story is based on Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter Three- The Journey

As Dumbledore was lifted through the air, his feeling of nothingness continued. The clouds grew denser around him, but he could not feel their cold. Hogwarts was getting smaller and smaller as Dumbledore headed towards the heavens.

Dumbledore, as wise as he is, had not yet explored the depths of the journey to heaven. After all, you can only die once. A memory cannot be extracted from a dead person once their soul has left Earth, so Dumbledore's Pensieve could not help him with this.

Once you were on your way to heaven, you _usually_ didn't go back. At this point, Dumbledore is just as confused as everyone else who ascends towards the sky after their death. No textbook could tell you what Dumbledore was feeling at that very moment.

As time wore on, Dumbledore started to feel oddly light and calm, but his worry overpowered these happy emotions like a thunderous cloud.

"I need to see if he's okay. He won't act logically." Dumbledore forced these thoughts through his head, concentrating more and more and the Astronomy Tower, Hogwarts, and Harry, who would now be free from the enchantment Dumbledore had put on him.

As Dumbledore concentrated harder and harder on seeing if Harry was still alive, the clouds around him seemed to lessen. His body was being lowered rapidly, but his stomach did not drop. Dumbledore felt a wave of relief. He was going back. He could check on Harry.

Dumbledore knew that he would not be given his life back. He was just given a chance to hover around Hogwarts for a little longer, to see how the events following his death played themselves out. Perhaps everyone who started to go to heaven got to go back and check on things, just to give themselves some closure.

Dumbledore did not know this at the time, but only two other people, excluding ghosts, had held off from dying and going to heaven. One of them would be a person he would see later today, for the first time in five years.

Hogwarts grew larger and larger. As Dumbledore zoomed back down to Earth, he aimed himself in the direction towards the Astronomy Tower. However, as he got closer to his desired destination, he found that the top of the tower was deserted.

Dumbledore looked around, trying to discover where everyone had gone. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hagrid's hut burst into flames.

"No. _No_." Dumbledore thought, as he floated towards the flaming house.

Dumbledore's worst fears were realized as he saw Severus and Harry standing opposite each other. Dumbledore could not hear what was going on, but he could tell that Harry was throwing jinx after jinx. Severus was blocking them, but not retaliating, as Dumbledore hoped he would.

At that moment, Harry fell to the grass. Dumbledore could tell he had been hit by the Cruciatus Curse, but it had not come from Severus. Harry, however, was soon on his feet. This did not last long, for as he tried to perform another spell, he was flown backwards.

Dumbledore couldn't stand to watch them fight. If only they knew what he knew. If only they understood. Dumbledore returned to the action just in time to see Severus apparate outside the grounds and to see Harry and Hagrid extinguish the fire nearly engulfing the small hut.

Dumbledore knew he had seen enough. As long as they both were okay, then he would be able to rest peacefully. A crowd was now gathering around what Dumbledore knew to be himself. He floated a little closer to the action and saw Harry bending over his body.

Dumbledore swept his eyes over the crowd. It was then that he saw Sir Nicholas De Mimsy-Porpington (also known as Nearly Headless Nick) staring at him. Nicholas raised his right arm and saluted Dumbledore, his head nearly falling off in the process. This was another thing that Dumbledore was not aware of. He didn't know that ghosts could sense departed souls.

Dumbledore nodded his head towards Nicholas and began floating back up towards the sky. The cloud grew thicker for the second time. As he got higher and higher, the clouds thinned, Dumbledore saw thousands of pictures flash before his eyes. They were going too fast for him to make anything out.

Then, everything stopped. Dumbledore hung in the air, suspended over the clouds. All of a sudden, he was dropped. Then everything went dead. Dumbledore could not feel anything. _Is this what heaven feels like?_

**A/N: Another chapter done! Please review and tell me what you think. Feedback is really helpful. Thanks!**


	4. This is Dumbledore's Memory 2

Disclaimer- Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. The story line of The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom, belongs to Mitch Albom.

**A/N: _Italics_ equal flashbacks. Remember?**

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter Four- This is Dumbledore's Memory

_A ten-and-a-half-year-old sits in a black leather chair in the corner of the Dumbledore library. He is absorbed in a novel by one of his favorite authors. As he is about to turn the page, a loud thud erupts from the closet across the room from him._

_Albus jumps up from his chair as the thuds continue. His book falls onto the floor, causing him to lose his place._ _Albus begins to get angry about this, but his anger is diminished by another loud thud from the closet._

_Albus hastily puts his book back on the chair before approaching the closet. What is in there? Terrified, Albus takes the four steps towards the closet and reaches his hand out to touch the doorknob. _

_Before his hand makes contact with the cold metal handle, another thud blasts from the closet, causing Albus to jump back, as if he had been electrocuted. Regaining his strength, Albus steps back towards the 'living' closet, and outstretches his hand, this time making contact with the knob. _

_He turns the knob slowly, not wanting to notify whatever was inside about what was going on. Albus doesn't here another thud, so he pulls the door open all the way._

_Suddenly, Elise steps out of the closet. Her eyes are unfocused, and her fists are clenched. Her shawl is dragging behind her, collecting all of the dust from the closet floor._

_Elise takes a step forward, not meeting Albus's eye. Suddenly she begins to speak in her trance like voice. She repeats the exact words that she said the night of the dinner party._

"_BEWARE–OF THE–HANDSOME–DARK-HAIRED MAN. HE WILL–ATTEMPT–TO STEAL–THE SWORD–OF YOUR–MOST FAMOUS–ANCESTOR. HE MUST–NOT–SUCCEED."_

_Albus lets out a yelp of fright. He takes a couple of steps backward, and Elise advances on him. Albus takes so many steps backwards, that he trips over the leather chair and ends up in a seated position._

_Elise begins to repeat her words in the same trance-like voice as before. "BEWARE–OF THE–HANDSOME–DARK-HAIRED MAN. HE WILL–ATTEMPT–TO STEAL–THE SWORD–OF YOUR–MOST FAMOUS–ANCESTOR. HE MUST–NOT–SUCCEED."_

_Albus lets out another shriek, this time louder than the first. Tears start to form in his eyes as he cowers against the arm of the chair. At that moment his mother runs in and sees Elise towering over her trembling son._

"_Elise?" Albus's mother says uncertainty. Then she realizes what is going on. Her wand is drawn in a flash, and she shouts, "Riddikulus!"_

_There is a loud CRACK and Elise disappears. Albus's mother rushes over and slams the closet door before heading towards her fearful son._

"_Oh Albus, I'm sorry." his mother says, squishing into the chair with him and pulling him into a hug. "I'm so sorry."_

_Albus continues to tremble, but leans on his mother's shoulder. He was safe now. Nothing bad was going to happen. Albus has calmed down enough to speak to his mother._

"_What was that?" Albus says, peering uncomfortably at the closet door._

"_That," his mother says, stroking his hair lovingly, "was a boggart. They turn into your worst fear." She pauses. "Why are you afraid of Elise?"_

_Albus's mother was not in the room when Albus's boggart was repeating Elise's words. She had not heard what was said that night at dinner either. If only she was, then it would all make sense, and Albus would not have to relive the horrible details._

"_I think she is a seer," Albus finally manages to say, not really knowing what a seer is. _

_Albus's mother closes her eyes and nods her head. "Did she say anything in particular to you?"_

_Albus nods and tells his mother exactly what happened that one night. His mother looks worried when he is finished._

"_I want you to do me a favor Albus," his mother begins. "I want you to forget all about this nonsense. It won't do you any good worrying all the time."_

_Albus nods his head slowly, almost relieved that he was asked to forget Elise's words. It would have been much harder to get the motivation to forget them all by himself._

_Albus's pushes the thoughts of Elise and the dark-haired man out of his head. Perhaps it is because of his mother that he has a later lack of tolerance for seers (such as Trelawney)._

_Albus scoops up his book and heads towards his room. He passes is younger brother, Aberforth's, room. Aberforth had been at a friend's house the night Elise came over for dinner, so he knew nothing about what Albus had experienced._

"_What's wrong?" Aberforth asks as Albus passes by his brother's room with a look of confusion and fear on his face. _

_Albus backs up and heads into his brother's room to tell him everything. He had kept it a secret for so long that it felt really good to tell two people in one day. After Albus finishes telling Aberforth what happened, he heads back to his own room and follows his mother's suggestion. He forgets about that whole night involving Elise Erolds. If only he hadn't..._

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Please review!**


	5. The Arrival

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters, because J.K. Rowling does. The plot of my story is based off of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter Five- The Arrival

Dumbledore slowly opened his eyes. He was standing, yet he could not remember how he had gotten to his current position. As he looked around, he found out that he was quite alone. There was not one other soul in sight.

"Where am I?" Dumbledore wondered to himself. He tried to call out, to see if anyone could hear him, but not one sound came out. He could not speak.

Dumbledore studied his surroundings more closely. He was standing in front of a small house, with a snake nailed to the door. Dumbledore knew at once where he was.

"Little Hangleton," Dumbledore thought. "But why am I _here_?"

Not quite sure what to do, Dumbledore made the decision to walk towards the Gaunt front door. He rapped quickly on the door with his right hand.

It was by doing this that Dumbledore realized that his hand was no longer shriveled and black. It looked just like his other hand. It was perfectly healthy.

Before continuing, Dumbledore stretched the fingers of his right hand. It feel good, for he had been unable to do that for the longest time.

No answer came from within the Gaunt house, so Dumbledore tried the doorknob. It opened easily. Dumbledore cautiously stepped inside, not quite sure what to expect.

His caution was for nothing. No one was there, much to Dumbledore's disappointment. The inside was just as deserted as the yard. His shoulders drooped. He had been sure that there would be something more inside.

Dumbledore exited the house. There was no point in staying. Dumbledore thought hard, "What else do I know of in this area?"

Suddenly, the idea hit him, the Riddle house was very close by. Dumbledore headed left from the front door of the Gaunt house and strolled down the hill. He felt very light and airy. He actually felt young.

Dumbledore briskly continued on his way down the hill. There was not one sign of life around him. Everything was silent, except for the occasional light breeze that rustled the leaves of nearby trees.

"Is this heaven?" Dumbledore wondered. "Does heaven have wind and trees? Why is my heaven like this?"

Within five minutes time, or an hours time, or a days time, Dumbledore really wasn't sure, however long it was, he eventually reached his desired destination. The Riddle house looked just as a typical house in Little Hangleton looked. It was white with large black shutters, but did not have one feeling of unwelcome.

Dumbledore surveyed the house windows and discovered that one of the lights in an upstairs room was on. It occasionally flickered, as if the bulb was going bad.

Dumbledore whisked himself onto the porch, and walked straight inside the house. If the only occupants of the house were upstairs, then why bother knocking? It would take them ages to get to the door.

No one protested as Dumbledore stepped into the house, so he simply closed the door behind him as if it was his own house that he had just entered.

Looking at his surroundings, Dumbledore realized that no one had cared for this house for awhile. There were cobwebs over everything, and the small table against the left wall badly needing dusting. There was a mirror over the table where Dumbledore could barely make out his own reflection. Was his heaven really a run down old house with only one lonely flickering light?

There was a white wooden staircase directly in front of the door through which Dumbledore had entered the house. Dumbledore decided that this would be his best bet because that was where the light was.

The steps creaked loudly from protest as Dumbledore walked up them. The paint was peeling of the stairs, and more flecks fell off with every step that Dumbledore took.

At the top of the stairs, Dumbledore could see exactly where the light was coming from. There was a small room at the end of the hallway, with the door widely opened.

Dumbledore began to approach this room. The only thing that he could see was a red chair with a very high back. There were numerous holes in the back, as if the moths had been having a feast for the past few decades. Dumbledore could see the wrinkly hand of the person that was seated in the chair.

Dumbledore quickened his pace, now very excited to see who this strange person was. When Dumbledore reached the door, he thought it would be rude not to knock, because he had so uninvitedly barged into the house in the first place.

Dumbledore tapped the knuckles of his now healed hand on the rotting wood of the door frame. The chair swivelled around as an answer, stuffing falling to the floor.

There was on old man sitting in the chair. He had a walking stick in one hand, and a very kind look on his face. Dumbledore did not recognize him at all.

"Why hello Albus," the man said. "I have been expecting you."

**A/N: Please review!**


	6. The First Person: Part One

Disclaimer- I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters because J.K. Rowling does. My story plot is based off of Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

Chapter Six-The First Person: Part One

Dumbledore stared at the young (well, compared to himself young) man seated in front of him. What was the point of being here? Who was this man? Do I know him?

The man just studied Dumbledore with great interest. Then he spoke, "You are probably wondering why you are here."

Dumbledore nodded his head. Ever since he had left Earth, his head had been filled with questions. This was one of the many.

The man did not speak for the longest time. Dumbledore only heard the silence of the world around him. He could here nothing, because there was nothing. Everything was still, silent, nonexistent.

"It is very quiet here," the man said, as though he could read Dumbledore's expressions and thoughts.

"Where's here?" Dumbledore thought.

It was after saying this that Dumbledore realized that the man could speak and he, himself could not. His voice box seemed to have temporarily left his body. Suddenly Dumbledore thought all of his questions to the mysterious man, hoping that he would get some answers.

"Why can't I talked?" Dumbledore began.

"No one can talk when they first arrive. It is very helpful to the people you meet and talk to."

"Who are these people?"

"You will find that out soon enough. I cannot tell you everything." the man responded.

"Where am I?"

The man looked at Dumbledore quizzically, as if he should already know the answer. "Where do you think you are?"

Dumbledore thought about it for a moment before answering, "The Riddle House in Little Hangleton."

"Well yes," the man answered. "if you like to get technical, but here, we don't. So, in a sense you are not in the Riddle house in Little Hangleton, you are in heaven."

"Heaven?" Dumbledore mused. "How can this be heaven?"

"Why can't it be heaven?" the man asked in response. "Anything can be heaven, and heaven can be anything."

"How could this be heaven though?" Dumbledore thought. "Three people were ruthlessly murdered here."

"Four." the man corrected.

Dumbledore was puzzled. He began to ask another question, but the old man held up a wrinkly hand to stop him.

"Those questions are for another time. For now, you must listen."

"In heaven, you will meet five people who had a great influence when you were alive, whether you knew them or not. I am your first person. When I died my death had something to do with you, which you will understand before leaving here."

"Leaving heaven?" Dumbledore thought to himself. "But that would leave..." Dumbledore did not want to think of what that would leave.

"You are already in heaven, so you will not leave."

Dumbledore tried as hard as he could to talk. This man's answers were just presenting more questions. Dumbledore tried to bring up sound so forcefully, that it felt like he would vomit. But alas, he didn't know this, but you cannot vomit in heaven.

Finally, Dumbledore was able to spit up a word. "How.."

The man studied as Dumbledore forced up his first words.

"How...did..."

The man was silent as he waited for Dumbledore to finish his first spoken question.

"How...did...you...die?"

"I was murdered by Lord Voldermort." he said simply.

**A/N: That was great fun writing the chapter with the first person Dumbledore meets in it. I couldn't wait to. Anyways, I'll update soon. Please review:)**

**PS: To vaderfan220x- I don't mind at all if you write a fanfiction with Sirius and the five people he meets in heaven. I appreciate you asking. Let me know in a review when you post it cause I'd like to read it. lol It would be interesting to see someone else's take on Mitch Albom's book.**


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